winged / hope

❝ I figured you could stay with the prize. ❞

Aya lets the fish go back to the water, setting the net aside. He quickly puts his glasses back on, and he gives Ahiru a slight nudge. She didn’t seem to notice his… ahem, cheating, so that’s good. It would be hard to explain why he cheated in the first place…

❝ I wanted you to leave with something, so you can go ahead. ❞

He looks completely honest with his words, crossing his arms and leaning on the wall. To be honest, he’s been greatly enjoying her company, but he struggles with saying so out loud. It’s an issue he’s had for a long time, being completely honest with his feelings– so this is the next best thing. Thankfully for her, he did manage to grab enough fish for the highest of prizes, so has lots of options to choose from.

“Huh?” Expression flickers between confusion and surprise, and it takes a moment for her to really process what’s going on admist conflicting emotions— she starts a little with the nudge given, mouth opens and closes a few times with an incoherent stutter. Not quite a protest ( her mind has processed enough to realize that’s not an option ), but moreso at an utter loss for words, when he speaks again.

“Aya...” Girl’s lip wobbles a little, already a little misty-eyed as she dives in for a hug; arms wrap around him tightly as she hides her face from him for a moment. Words might come easy to her, sure, but actions— her actions have always spoke loudly too, and she thinks this is a way of expressing gratitude that can be understood without mistake. Perhaps she too can understand what goes unsaid by him by this gesture. 

     IT’S not fair and he knows it. He’s told so often. He came fully formed with this ability, his pencil jittering across the page to print out the frog at the pond’s edge midleap. He’s grown to expect envy. It doesn’t feel great to have his hobby taken as a mirror showing fellow artists their insecurities.

Ahiru might as well have been singing, that last comment being music to Star Platinum’s ears. There aren’t any lilies or pads in the pond, but he adds them as a final touch. Ok, maybe a dragonfly. Now he’s done.

❝ Many thanks. Self-expression is a struggle of mine. I’m the hands-on sort. Drawing out snapshots of life is more fulfilling for me than using photography. ❞

He points to her own sketchbook with his pencil.

❝ I love your style as well. It’s alive in its own way. You’ll really see it by the time you get to the end of the sketchbook. What do you like to draw most? ❞

And it’s true! He loves to watch his friends try and change and grow! It’s never about being “good” for him. It’s about them being the best they can.

*:・ﾟ☆

Whether or not she seems to be aware of the fact that skill isn’t exactly that of a human’s talent, it doesn’t really seem to bother her perception of him in the slightest. Talent is talent, after all; not a borrowed ability like her life had once been— and irregardless of aptitude, hobby is one he seems to genuinely enjoy, and that really should be all that matters at the end of the day, in her opinion. Not that that would stop her from openly fawning over drawings. It’s fun getting to watch the bigger picture come together in real-time, in her opinion.

She offers a small hum in response to his words, slightly tilt of her head. “I dunno, it seems like you’re doing fine expressing yourself...but I don’t really know much ‘bout that kinda stuff, so maybe I’m wrong.” It’s just an opinion in the end, she just hopes hers is one of comfort. There’s a slight wince when her own drawings are gestured to, though does not try to hide them away despite herself. Again, she’s not exactly artistically inclined, nor is this her preferred medium of ‘art’; at the end of the day, it’s an enjoyable hobby, even if she doesn’t think there’s anything special about crayon scribbles. “I agree! ‘Cause as long as you put feeling into anything you do, it’ll feel alive.” No skill necessary for that one! 

Her response was a little bit of a surprise. Most likely because Vanna hadn’t seen a picture book since she was seven, but the child’s response was starting to draw her age into question. However, two schools of thought came about as a result of that observation: the first was that she couldn’t judge a kid for preferring books she had a better time understanding, and the second was that she should have seen this coming, since Statice advertised itself as maintaining a large collection of comics and manga.

“I can understand that. I like stories where people solve mysteries, because I can follow along and learn from the book.” Vanna’s hair-tentacles were stirring gently as she spoke, a subconscious expression of honest interest. “Oh, hey. What’s your name? You can call me Vanna.” The elder of the two stuck a hand out in friendship as she gave her name.

Naturally, she does not find her own answer to be odd— well, okay, it’s a little weird maybe, but everyone’s different! So rationally speaking, it can’t be that out of the ordinary. Hopefully? Okay, so maybe she overthinks these kinds of things occasionally, but considering no questions are ever really brought up to her, she can assume her actions are pretty convincing. And besides, it’s not like she’s really lying in this particular instance, so if nothing else, it helps her feel confident in her thoughts.

One thing that Vanna often forgot about the Statice? That its close proximity to the school meant that a lot of the students came there to either study or relax. She also forgot that the school itself was elementary and up, so a lot of younger children holed up in the building once class was over, either waiting for their parents or partaking in any of the library’s varied activities. Imagine her surprise when a younger teen came up to the table, eager to break the relative silence. Really though, the cephalopod chose to hang out at the library popular with teens, she really should have seen this coming.

Oh, wow. She was so little, her hair was almost as tall as she was! There was no kissing the curious sparkle in the young girl’s eyes; either she was extremely invested in her own book, or she was dazzled by the octoling herself. “It’s pretty great. A fun enough book is like tv in your head!” Sure enough, since the older teen chose to pass the time with a daring space epic, she was rather dazzled herself. “What kind of books do you like to read?”

While libraries weren’t her usual to go ( for a multitude of reasons ), some combination of weather and mood has her inside for the day, instead of...whatever combination of activities she usually keeps herself amused with.  Despite not being a student herself, she blends in fairly well with the atmosphere. Statice is closer in both what she finds to be easy to captivate her attention and ( somewhat ) in age range; even if most days if she comes to the library, it is not entirely to people watch.

❝ I see… thank you, Ahiru. ❞

Aya nods and gently lets go of her hand to take off his glasses, pocketing them before grabbing the net. Okay, so maybe this is cheating, but he wants her to leave with a prize, so! It’s for a good cause. His eyes narrow and fully focus on the fish swimming by, his demonic eyesight letting him see them with incredible precision and detail. He waits… and waits… and a hand quickly moves to scoop up a few fish inside the net.

❝ …Huh. ❞

He didn’t expect that to really work, in all honesty. But it did, and that’s what matters! Red eyes glance over to Ahiru– wow, humans did not look great without his glasses– and shows off the net.

Head tilts slightly; yet again she cannot help but wonder what he's thanking her for, really. It's not like she's really saying anything that surprising, right? Maybe there's something else there that she just can't understand? Whatever the case may be, she does not stress on it too much. She feels like he’d probably tell her if it was really a matter of importance, so...it’s probably fine if she doesn’t spend much thought on it— no further acknowledgment of what was said.

Truthfully, Ahiru can’t help but feel a little bad for the fishies; stuck in a ‘pool’ for their entertainment. Maybe they’re not real? Or a bit special like the other animals here? Okay, maybe she’s overthinking this a little, but maybe this is better than whatever the alternative would’ve been for them...? It makes her feel a little better, at least their odds might be better than if they’d been free... even if they were kinda tasty. Anyways. Enough of that. Girl shakes her head free of any lingering thoughts and returns her attention to watching Aya carefully; like she can pick up on some sort of secret technique or something if she pays enough attention. And yet, seemingly enough, as quick as it starts, it comes to an end— she’s a little awed at his...skill? Talent doesn’t seem like quite the right word here, but she doesn’t know quite exactly what she’s really thinking of. 

Quiet coos fall from child’s lips, easily impressed oohs and ahhs as she watches the ease and speed with which he sketches. Maybe it says something about the kind of person she is, to never really feel any envy over such sort of thing, only pure admiration for what other’s are capable of. A sketchbook of her own is hugged to her chest, full of childish doodles; she’s not exactly an artistically inclined person, but she figures it’s best to make the most of the gifts she’s been given. Besides, she wants to fill it up with pictures so she can give it back to Aya eventually...it just seems like the most proper thing to do. Anyways.

Though she might not have the best sense of changing times, she does instinctively understand the change in season— perhaps it is best to just say that it is a feeling in her bones to know that spring was around the corner. The other animals seem to feel the same, perched on a bench as she scatters out some spare feed for the birds to enjoy while she chatters away with the animals. It’s easier that way, sometimes, to just chat with nature ( even if they don’t understand human life either, there’s a certain comfort that comes with it ).

Is she staring? She’s definitely staring, isn’t she? She doesn’t mean to be! All things considered, she has arguably seen ( maybe ) weirder— and not like she’s entirely normal either to begin with. There’s probably some kind of place where that’s normal, right? It’d be really mean of her to treat her like that’s not the case, even if Ahiru’s not too certain if she’s really got it right. It wouldn’t be the first time she’s let herself run wild with some odd conclusion anyways... Besides, other girl seems pretty invested in the topic at hand, whatever that may be ( like most things, it goes without saying that she does not entirely grasp what’s being said ). It’d be rude to interrupt with her own trivial sort of questions, even curious as she is, she’ll hold her tongue for now...and restrain herself from wanting to poke at odd hair. That’s definitely rude!

What’s going on over there...? Some sort of noise has managed to catch her attention, straying towards the source; ever inquisitive child, one day you may learn to not poke your nose into everything. That is not this day, even if her footsteps falter a little when Ahiru spots shadowy figure; a little fearful, but curiosity, as per usual, triumphs over all else, and with returned confidence, footsteps continue. Maybe they just need some help? It can’t hurt to ask, at least...she’d like it if she could help! And it’s as good as a conversation starter as any ( well, it’s definitely one of the least offensive ones, in any case ).

There’s rumors of a ruined city underwater, he wants to explore it as Cat Noir. With Plagg, he doesn’t really want to go and prefers to stay in the ring so Adrien might have to compromise.

“Huh?” The cat hero then turned to hear the source of the voice. His jaw dropped. “Only clumsy citizens would do something like this.”

He remarked, he wanted to help her get out of the water.

"Please don’t be reckless about it, madamoiselle!”

There’s a small tilt of her head— mostly because she doesn’t really understand his concern. Well, kind of; she sort of assumes that he’s just nice, because being concerned about people is a nice thing to be, but doesn’t really reconcile that with the fact that her actions would be considered by most as reckless.

  nene jerks out of her thoughts at the sound of a voice, shoulders tense as she turns to face who spoke to her. the sight of a girl (who looks even younger than her) makes her relax, a troubled smile on her face. one hand is latched around the opposite elbow, rubbing at her arm and shuffling her feet a bit. “ well… ”

  oh, god, she can’t just say no to someone younger than her. leaving her to explore the depths alone would be irresponsible of her, but… it’s not like she can do much to protect ahiru when beneath the surface! she’s just a fish then! nene sighs, face in her hands as she drags them down her face. 

  “ ican’tgointowatercompletelybecausei’llturnintoafish, ” she says, fast enough that she can hopes the admittance will ease her nerves while also revealing nothing. “ b - but, um…! if you want to do something, i can come with you!! ”

There’s a long moment where she thinks she might’ve said something wrong, based on the silence that she gets; and is in the midst of trying to think of some other kind of offer to make when words are blurted out. She can pick out some words ( granted, there weren’t that many said, really ), but she’s not really sure if she heard that correctly, and it seems like it’d be rude to ask, even by her own standards: which is, usually curious ones. “Uhm,” A pause, brows furrow a little. “Y’know you could have just said no if you really didn’t wanna go...” Words aren’t disbelieving, not quite disregarding what stranger says— just a truthful ( albeit perhaps unnecessary ) voicing of her thoughts. If anything, Ahiru would be the first to believe in things like that, and given the way that, even if she’s not entirely sure what she heard, the fact that she seemed to have revealed something of great importance makes her feel a little guilty if anything: if it’d been her in that position, well...

    To put it bluntly, this Siren was not having a very good day. This whole underwater situation had her in an awfully sour mood from the minute she woke up. With her bag slung over her shoulder and arms crossed, she was once again fretting over things that she didn’t need to fret over any more than she already had. Despite that, when the young girl calls out for her attention, she stops and turns around to cast a curious look down at her. Time to put something that at least resembles a smile on her face.

   ❝ It’s okay, no need to say sorry. I’m happy to help. ❞ She says after listening politely, ❝ The tunnel down into the city is just a couple blocks away, that’s where i’m heading now. You’re welcome to come with me, if you’d like to Miss. ❞

   Ever courteous, Maya steps out of the way and motions down the road in front of her. Little ladies first!

It’s always a little tricky to read stranger’s expressions, she can’t tell completely if she’s being a bother or not, so she shows a little hesitation— even if she’s happy to help ( well, sure, that’s maybe the kind of thing that she’d say, but... ) “Ah, thank you! Uhm, yes, if you don’ mind?” Besides just generally enjoying having the company of other people around, it’s a guarantee that she won’t get distracted and wander off on some narrow offshoot or anything like that. It takes a moment for her to recognize gesture of hands, and girl scurries forward with a murmur of gratitude.